Mind over Matter

Should I thank this girl to make me come back to blogging? On second thoughts, no. My ego won't allow me to boost someone else's :).


Today's 26 November. 2 years ago, Mumbai was hit by the hatred of a few people. And 14 years ago, my cousin had gotten married. They live a very happy life now, my cousin and her family. All, except one, of the attackers, aren't even alive. The only one alive is on death row.

Why he would have done it was easy to figure out. Most probably, something bad happened to him, and then, someone did a little brainwashing and voila! There was a terrorist ready to chop a few innocent heads off.

What bothers me more is everyone else, who want this man dead. Why would they want it? It's not that they personally will benefit from this guy's death. It's not even that they would lose something very important to them if this guy remains alive.

Yes, he is dangerous to be left out in the open. But that doesn't mean he should be killed.

What would have Batman done? He who has taken a vow not to kill anyone. What would have Mahatma Gandhi done? He who believed 'an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'. What would have I done? I who don't have a belief as strong as these guys.

Maybe I would have made sure that he adopts a child and sponsors his living. That would have made him realise how easy it is to kill and how difficult it is to live.

Maybe I would have forced him to stay alone and away from everyone else, like Robinson Crusoe. That would make sure he can't kill anyone, and is still made to work for keeping himself alive.

Maybe I would have narrated to him stories of the victim's families and friends... told him about the grief, the loss, and the practical tragedy his actions resulted in. That would have brought about a broader understanding of the world.

It doesn't matter what I would have done.
'coz I am not the one doing anything.
I am not the one asked to kill innocent people.
And not the one asked to kill guilty people.

I am just a bystander, who will observe this, and move on, once the tamasha is over. My life is good!

The event won't matter to me 14 years later. And I am pretty sure the marriage still matters to my cousin and everyone else.... including me.

Tom Hagen

A post that I wanted to write for a long time. Here goes:

How does it feel to be Tom Hagen?

You have spent your entire life with the Corleone family. For decades, you have been the counsel of the Don. You have given the business everything you could. You have stood for, fought for, bled for the family. And you have always genuinely believed that you were accepted as a member of the family... and being a non-Sicilian didn't matter much.

Or so you thought!

And then, at the most critical stage of life, you are reminded that you are not a Sicilian... much less a Corleone. You are told that you aren't good as a war-time counsel. And you are pushed away by the very people you lived for, and were willing to die for.

How does it feel to be Tom Hagen?

Naya kya hai?

There's a unique way of starting conversations among Gujarati people. Shu Khabar? Everywhere else, it's almost the same... What's Up?
With news media though, it's somehow become exactly the same.


One day, Pakistani players are in the news because of an IPL auction. Next day, SRK comes out in support of them. The third day, Shiv Sena comes out against them. And by the fourth day, IPL and cricket are history, and SRK and Shiv Sena are fighting over the film to be released.

Does the film have anything to do with Pakistan? No.

Does the film have anything to do with cricket? No.

Does the film release have anything to do with Pakistani players? No.

Still, the fight is on.


Interestingly, the RTI Act has been at the opposite end. Very less hype around it, and far-reaching effect. Every now and then, a scam comes into light. Just like it was earlier. The difference now is that it's not investigating agencies who are the torch-bearers, it's common men and women who seek more information using RTI. While both talk of huge monies, RTI for some reason never gets the same importance as case mentioned earlier.


Another similar case is that of suicides.
As the National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB) reports here, every hour of 2008, roughly 14 people committed suicide. Still, when a suicide is portrayed disturbingly in '3 Idiots', suddenly suicides among students come into limelight. And as is the way with media, all blame of every student suicide after the movie release is attributed to the movie and nothing else.

I wonder why long term impact or re-percussions are given so less importance? A policy change is immediately criticised if there is any negative consequence today. Tomorrow's benefits? Who cares?

Probably the difference between 'what's new' and 'what's news' is only in language.